ENGL 298 B: Intermediate Writing Social Sciences   Autumn 2011, University of Washington

In the Apology, Socrates claims that he is not “responsible” for how people react after he talks to them (33b).  According to Plato, responsibility would imply Socrates directly caused people to act differently, but Socrates argues that he just opened the minds of the public to thinking about life.  The responsibility Socrates claims he does not have is the basis of his defense.  He demonstrates during his trial his ability to make people think, not through telling them what to think, but by evoking their minds and thought processes to a new way of questioning and thinking.

In Crito, Socrates claims multiple times in his dialogue that he “must” die (43b & 44a).  While must is a simple word it shows the duty and obligation Socrates holds to follow his city-state’s laws.  He submitted himself to the laws via tacit consent because he lived his whole life in Athens and he defended himself in his own trial.  If he tries to escape, instead of waiting for death, he would open the door for chaos; showing people that they could do something illegal because they could just escape from the country after being convicted.  He also believes he must die in order to stay true to his beliefs, and he knows it would be wrong to return a wrong, being charged and convicted, with another wrong by escaping.